Come Back Alice Comes Back to Bradenton Saturday Night

BRADENTON – Sarasota was never going to be big enough to contain the musical brilliance of Come Back Alice. The band eventually migrated to St. Pete and have become a popular act on the East Coast music festival scene. In December, CBA released its debut album and on Saturday the band will return to Ace's in West Bradenton for a much-anticipated engagement.

Formed in 2012, Come Back Alice has a patently-unique sound that they've dubbed Southern Gypsy Funk, a blend of rock, soul, gypsy jazz and funk music, the flavors of which compliment each other like ingredients in a fine New Orleans gumbo. With improvisational influences and a love of bands known for killer live performances–including The Band, Dave Matthews, Tom Petty, and The Allman Brothers Band–even the biggest Come Back Alice fans don't know what to expect from show to show from a band that has never repeated a set list.

Saturday's performance will be a homecoming of sorts for CBA violinist/guitarist Dani Jaye, a Bradenton native and Lakewood Ranch High graduate who began playing classical music at age 13, before migrating to gypsy jazz and funk. Jaye was playing live by the time she was 15 and had already caught the attention of local music fans while playing in the band One Night Rodeo when she met Come Back Alice vocalist, guitarist and occasional Hammond B3 player Tony Tyler.

Tyler, who came to Florida from Macon, Georgia, exudes exactly the sort of guitar influences one would expect from a young man who grew up in Allman Brothers country. He was doing well as a blues front man in his Tony Tyler Band project, but after falling both musically and romantically for Jaye, the two decided to collaborate on something more experimental. Add in the funk-laced percussion rhythms of Miami-bred Yral Morris and there’s magic in the air.

Both Tyler and Jaye noted the special significance in Saturday’s show.

"Ace’s is one of the very first places I played when I moved down here," said Tyler. "It’s one of the last true music venues of its kind. Renee (Ace’s owner Renee Bennett) does such a great job putting the shows together, and it’s just a place where people know that if they come out, they are going to see a really good show every time."

For Jaye, it’s a chance to play on a stage she once watched from among the crowd.

"It’s amazing to be able to play at home," said Jaye, "and Ace’s is a place where I used to go and watch bands when I was growing up. It’s definitely one of my favorite places to play."

The band’s eponymous debut album, which was recorded at Tree Sound Studios in Atlanta and will be available at the show, is already causing quite a stir. Jaye said that they will continue to tour heavily in support of it, while also putting together performance tracks for a live album they plan to release this summer. From there, it’s back to Tree Sound where they’ll work on their next release, for which they’ve already begun writing music.

For every band that breaks through to the big show, there’s a special moment when their wave begins to crest, and you can feel the energy of a critical mass just about to burst into stardom. Come Back Alice is riding high on that sweet spot right at this very moment, which makes Saturday’s gig at Ace’s a can’t miss for music fans. Something tells me that chances to see them in small, intimate venues for a paltry cover charge will also be limited going forward.